Contaminated fuel pumped at some Denver metro area gas stations, according to state officials

Some gas stations in the Denver metro area, including Costco, Murphy Express and King Soopers locations, sold contaminated fuel on Thursday, according to the Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety. 

King Soopers confirmed to CBS News Colorado that the pumps at 13 of its gas stations in the Denver metro area contained contaminated fuel. That fuel was pumped into vehicles by customers. 

According to a King Soopers company representative, multiple locations in Aurora, Broomfield, Parker and other cities were impacted. Store officials said the fuel was delivered by a third-party carrier.

Several customers told CBS Colorado that the unleaded gas they pumped into their vehicle was contaminated with diesel. Lance Strait got gas from a Parker King Soopers on Thursday morning and drove to work without any issues. "But on the way home, it was sputtering and misfiring and obviously had some serious mechanical issues," said Strait.

"I think everybody is in panic mode right now," he said.

Many drivers have a similar story. Tracy Burlingame filled her tank up at the same King Soopers on Wednesday evening. Her husband drove the vehicle the next day.

"It was just not driving right at all, sputtering, in wouldn't accelerate, and we talked, and was like, that sounds like bad gas," said Burglingame.

Burglingame's vehicle was towed to a nearby auto shop.

"They did call me this morning and say that they tested the fuel, and it was diesel. So, we had nearly 25 gallons of diesel put into our unleaded truck," said Burlingame, who was also told repairs would be about $3,000.

"It's upsetting," she added.

Once King Soopers learned about the contaminated fuel, officials said all affected fuel lines were shut down. Teams continued to work to complete the remediation process and get the pumps back online. 

King Soopers said the following locations were impacted:

• 14967 Candelas Pkwy., Arvada
• 25701 E Smoky Hill Rd., Aurora
• 17000 E Iliff Ave., Aurora
• 3050 S Peoria St., Aurora
• 1045 S 1St St., Bennett
• 12167 Sheridan Blvd., Broomfield
• 2355 W 136Th Ave., Broomfield
• 7284 Lagae Rd., Castle Pines
• 750 N Ridge Rd., Castle Rock
• 5125 W Florida Ave., Denver
• 1611 Pace St., Longmont
• 12959 S Parker Rd., Parker
• 17761 Cottonwood Dr., Parker

King Soopers released this statement, which read in part: We sincerely regret the inconvenience and disruption this has caused our customers. We understand how important reliable fuel service is, and we are committed to working directly with any impacted customers to resolve their concerns. Customers who believe they may have been impacted are encouraged to contact their local store and we will assist them promptly.

An earlier update from King Soopers had listed some locations in Boulder and Littleton but the company amended its location list to include five fewer locations, lowering the number of gas stations impacted to 14 locations. That list was updated several hours later to exclude the location at 15109 E. Colfax Ave., leaving the total number of locations impacted at 13. 

Murphy Express said a gas station of theirs in Parker was impacted. That is located at 13001 Copperhead Trail.

The known Costco locations that are impacted, according to Colorado officials are in Sheridan and in Superior.

The Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety released this statement to CBS Colorado: The Division of Oil and Public Safety began receiving complaints about bad gas on Thursday, January 8. Reports were coming from fuel sold at Costco, Murphy Express, and King Soopers locations, among others.

The Division understands that regular unleaded gasoline contaminated with diesel fuel was loaded from the HF Sinclair terminal in Henderson, Colorado and sent to numerous gas stations between 2 p.m. on January 7th through 6 a.m. on January 8th. On January 8th, the Division took a sample from the Costco gas station at River Pointe in Sheridan that confirmed the contamination. The Division will continue to work with station owners to test fuel samples and identify impacted retailers. Station owners are working quickly to stop sales of the contaminated gasoline and have it replaced with the right fuel.

Consumers are encouraged to contact the gas station if they believe they were impacted, and to contact the Division by submitting a complaint online or calling 303-866-4967 if they would like State assistance.

In February 2020, a gas station in Boulder was not fined following a mix-up with its fuel transfers. The State of Colorado said they dropped regular unleaded into the diesel compartment, or diesel underground storage tank, and dropped diesel into the regular unleaded storage tank, and then regular unleaded into the premium.